Italian language program cancelled for 2022-23 school year at Catholic school
Kids at St. Alphonsus elementary and junior high won't be able to continue in the school's long standing Italian language and culture program in September.
The longstanding program has been cancelled for the coming year. Calgary Catholic School District says just 27 per cent of kids at the school continue in the Italian program after it stops being mandatory after grade three. According to CCSD, the other 73 per cent switch to French.
"Maybe a month ago we just got an email on a Friday just to say more or less 'FYI it's not going to be offered anymore in September,'" said Belinda Mendes, who has two children in the program.
Parents said the program helps keep family traditions alive and they want a fuller explanation from CCSD and a chance to search for alternative solutions.
"In an ideal world, come together to brainstorm ideas for how some part of a program could still function. But we weren't given an opportunity to even have that conversation," Mendes said.
"I feel like having the Italian program at our school really helped with continuing the traditions that I grew up with," said Julia Colvin, whose daughter Carmelina is in grade three at the school.
CCSD said in a statement that Italian culture will still be a big part of the curriculum at St Alphonsus but language lessons won't be a part of that.
Calgary Catholic does still offer another Italian Language and Culture program at St. Maria Goretti elementary in the Northwest.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.